The "Federal Water Pollution Control Act" was established in 1948 to protect the water resources around the nation from pollution.
In 1972 the act was renamed to The Clean Water Act.
This law made it unlawful to throw away any pollution in to waters that are used for navigation purposes unless a permit was made.
Role of the EPA in this act:
pollution control plans are made for point sources such as pipes and man-made ditches.
set water quality standards
National Polluntant Discharge Elimination System
permits issued to industrial, municipal, and other facilities whose discharges go directly to surface waters
a permit must be obtained to discharge any pollutant from a point source into navigable water.
The water pollution laws dating back to 1899 were readdressed in a 1972 amendment that placed limitations on industrial discharges and producing water quality standards for the first time.
The main goal of the act is to protect the fish, shellfish, wildlife, and people from the polluted surface waters including lakes, rivers, and streams by 1983. Along with seeking to end the discharging of pollutants into navigable waters by 1985. Navigable waters are the waters that are deep and wide enough for the passing of ships.
In 1986, the federal government increased the strength of state management programs for nonpoint pollution. Nonpoint pollution is pollution that is spread out, and cannot be traced to a specific source. Some examples of nonpoint pollution are agriculture, mining, urban runoff, construction, and sewage disposal.
The Clean Water Act changed the many statistics about water around the United States for the better.
CLEAN WATER ACT